Todd Bersnoozi wrote:Just reading that apparantly Jensen's season is almost over with da Bears and Gillis wants him to report to the wolves to get more xp @ the pro lvl.

Boy, the kids sure seems to luv to score. He seems to have decent speed and scores on the rush quite a bit, seems to have a quick/accurate release and drives to the net pretty well. Looks a bit like Ovi out there.

Kid's got some skill and a hell of a shot, no question. He also scored 6 goals in 8 AHL games so it's not like he's only done it in Sweden.

The Nucks need a big body scorer like Jensen is expected to become, kid is only 19 but he's already 6'3" and 215 pounds, could be 225 or 230 when he's done growing. I have big expectations for him.

As I said before, I just could not wait to see a line with Jensen/Gaunce/Kassian. They might not be as creative or dynamite as the Sedins or the WCE. With their sizes, it could be a heck of line.

Imagine a Legion of Doom-Lite?

Could Jensen pan out like a modern-day Renberg? I like how he can snipe with that release from the far side of the circles. How many Canucks can seriously whip a wrister with a snowball's chance of beating a goalie? It seems a lot of the Canucks' goals are off of plays designed to catch goalies and defense off-guard for tap-ins. Used to see Kes whip them in, but not anymore lately. If Jensen can provide that kind of threat, the Canucks would be so much more dangerous.

Even so, Jensen still goes in the dirty areas to score some greasy ones and some in-tight shots.

I am very interested to see how he fares in the AHL. Bumping people off the puck and going to the dirty areas may work for him in the SEL, but the game gets rougher and dirtier on this side of the pond so he may have a stiffer challenge here. Having said that, he has had success in the CHL so has can handle the rougher opposition.

Todd Bersnoozi wrote:Just reading that apparantly Jensen's season is almost over with da Bears and Gillis wants him to report to the wolves to get more xp @ the pro lvl.

Boy, the kids sure seems to luv to score. He seems to have decent speed and scores on the rush quite a bit, seems to have a quick/accurate release and drives to the net pretty well. Looks a bit like Ovi out there.

Kid's got some skill and a hell of a shot, no question. He also scored 6 goals in 8 AHL games so it's not like he's only done it in Sweden.

The Nucks need a big body scorer like Jensen is expected to become, kid is only 19 but he's already 6'3" and 215 pounds, could be 225 or 230 when he's done growing. I have big expectations for him.

As I said before, I just could not wait to see a line with Jensen/Gaunce/Kassian. They might not be as creative or dynamite as the Sedins or the WCE. With their sizes, it could be a heck of line.[/quote]

Imagine a Legion of Doom-Lite?

Could Jensen pan out like a modern-day Renberg? I like how he can snipe with that release from the far side of the circles. How many Canucks can seriously whip a wrister with a snowball's chance of beating a goalie? It seems a lot of the Canucks' goals are off of plays designed to catch goalies and defense off-guard for tap-ins. Used to see Kes whip them in, but not anymore lately. If Jensen can provide that kind of threat, the Canucks would be so much more dangerous.

Even so, Jensen still goes in the dirty areas to score some greasy ones and some in-tight shots.

I am very interested to see how he fares in the AHL. Bumping people off the puck and going to the dirty areas may work for him in the SEL, but the game gets rougher and dirtier on this side of the pond so he may have a stiffer challenge here. Having said that, he has had success in the CHL so has can handle the rougher opposition.

Todd Bersnoozi wrote:Just reading that apparantly Jensen's season is almost over with da Bears and Gillis wants him to report to the wolves to get more xp @ the pro lvl.

Btw, not sure his season ends yet. With three games left AIK are in 9th place, with eight teams making the playoffs.They are just three points behind Brynäs, who are in 8th place, and the teams are scheduled to meet.

You get three points for a win in regulation, two points for an ot or shootout win. Brynäs is slumping badly and the rumour is the coach has lost the room. Meanwhile AIK has been playing well lately.

I'd not be surprised if AIK can beat Brynäs and steal that last playoff slot from them.If so, Jensen's season could continue for a while.

To be fair, AV would give chances if the player can offer something that the team needs. In the last couple of years, AV has used rookies like Hodgson, Kassian, Schroeder, and Tanev. I am sure that if Jensen is good enough to make the NHL, he would get his chance.

The only thing that I dislike about AV is giving the fringe players more minutes than they deserve, like Rome or Alberts. Seriously, I would rather give rookies like Sauve or Connauton a chance than Alberts or Barker as the sixth defenseman right now. Could those kids be any worse than Alberts??

Sauve is in Kalamazoo, and Connauton is radically inconsistent. There are absolutely no defensive prospects in the pro's that are even close to NHL ready, not even for a sniff. Hence the acquisitions of both Vandermeer and Barker as depth.

BladesofSteel wrote:Sauve is in Kalamazoo, and Connauton is radically inconsistent. There are absolutely no defensive prospects in the pro's that are even close to NHL ready, not even for a sniff. Hence the acquisitions of both Vandermeer and Barker as depth.

Sauve was fine two seasons ago playing 5 NHL games for the Canucks. What happened to him?

To be fair, AV would give chances if the player can offer something that the team needs. In the last couple of years, AV has used rookies like Hodgson, Kassian, Schroeder, and Tanev. I am sure that if Jensen is good enough to make the NHL, he would get his chance.

The only thing that I dislike about AV is giving the fringe players more minutes than they deserve, like Rome or Alberts. Seriously, I would rather give rookies like Sauve or Connauton a chance than Alberts or Barker as the sixth defenseman right now. Could those kids be any worse than Alberts??

I agree, the rookies/young guys need more time in different parts of the game but he puts the fringe players out there instead.

As for Schroeder the only reason why he was given a chance was the injuries to Kesler/Booth now that he is up he is showing some ability to keep him there but once a few bad games occur he will be sent down to the minors. Kassian was given a chance to play with the twins and did a great job, Burrows comes back and now he is bounced around line to line and losing his minutes.

Tanev came up because of injuries to the D line.

Hodgson - don't know what to say about him, either they needed to play him or leave him to rot in the AHL.

Reefer2 wrote:I agree, the rookies/young guys need more time in different parts of the game but he puts the fringe players out there instead.

We don't have anymore young defenseman that can come up and play right now. As was mentioned Sauve is in the ECHL and Connauton is a mess defensively. He's also left handed and would probably prefer to play the left side, of which we do not need right now.

Reefer2 wrote:As for Schroeder the only reason why he was given a chance was the injuries to Kesler/Booth now that he is up he is showing some ability to keep him there but once a few bad games occur he will be sent down to the minors.

When we have a relatively full roster the only way to get your chance is because of injury. Schroeder has made the most of this thus far and is holding his own. You can see however that he is finding the game fast right now and he needs to get used to actual NHL game speed now.

Reefer2 wrote: Kassian was given a chance to play with the twins and did a great job, Burrows comes back and now he is bounced around line to line and losing his minutes.

Here is my post in the Kassian/4th Liner thread, which explains my reasoning behind Kassian's demotion and play of late:

Aaronp18 wrote:

Jovocop wrote:Did Kassian start his poor defensive play before or after he was demoted? I thought he did make good defensive plays when he was with the Sedins. He had tons of confidence and the results showed that.

He was playing much more responsible at the beginning of the season but I think there's a good reason for this.

We saw the younger players in the league look great and out-skate and even out-score some of the veterans who didn't play during the lockout. Kassian, and others that played, were a slight step ahead of the inactive players.

He had that extra split second to make a play. That time has disappeared now that the majority of players are up to game speed. Because of that Kassian is finding things a bit tougher out there as he doesn't have that extra second to make a decision. He now needs to get used to the normal NHL pace of play.

You can see this all over the league, the guys that normally top the scoring charts are back up there. The young guns that put up some points in the first couple weeks have tailed off substantially.

Kassian now has to work to earn his top 6 icetime. He deserved it at the beginning of the year but he's finding the NHL game speed tough to catch up to now. It will come but he needs to realize that his game needs to get better and the effort must be put in every shift.

Reefer2 wrote:Tanev came up because of injuries to the D line.

So? He got the chance and earned his icetime. He has now earned more icetime. He can also play the right side and is a right handed shot, something this team obviously needs.

What is wrong with this exactly?

Young kids are always going to be the ones sent up and down from the minors first because of the CBA. We just lost Volpatti because he needed to clear waivers. This may not seem like a big loss but it is. Our 4th line has not been a disaster this year and Volpatti was a part of that, now we need to replace him somehow.

It's a huge benefit to be able to send kids up and down to Chicago without the threat of them being plucked off waivers. If we give all these kids more games with the Canucks we will eventually lose any flexibility in this regard.

Teams that give the kids primo minutes without having to earn them generally suck and are rebuilding. The benefits of letting the kids play are aquiring high draft picks and baptism by fire development(see the Coilers 25 year rebuild program). Vancouver is a contender now and any ice time has to be earned. Tanev earned what he is getting whereas Kassian has sucked at chipping the puck out of his zone. Schroeder looked good at first but has been finding things much more difficult of late. It is what it is...in a few years we might be looking for a new direction ourselves and then we can all cheer on the kids while we struggle to make the playoffs. For now, we get the privilege of watching a contender. Make sure you don't forget to enjoy it! It wont last forever